Guernsey's Island Treasure Raymond Evison wins 26th Gold at Chelsea

Clematis grower Raymond Evison has won his 26th gold medal at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show.  The medal was awarded for the Guernsey Clematis display, which has won a gold each year since 2003. Mr Evison said: " absolutely thrilled, been really worried because it's been exceedingly hot and the flowers were fading."  He paid tribute to the members of his team, saying it had been a "team effort" and "a great thrill". Mr Evison said the visit of the Queen to the display had been a "tremendous honour". Sir Geoffrey Rowland, Guernsey's former Bailiff, praised the display and suggested the home-grown success of Raymond Evison Clematis could be used to attract visitors to the island. He said most stands were sponsored by financial institutions so the advertising of the island as a tourist destination could be done as a public-private partnership. For a delightful BBC RHS Chelsea 2014 clip,  featuring Raymond and his grandson (hopefully) 'creating' a new clematis, please click here Raymond Evison is a Trustee of the Guernsey Botanical Trust and is the prime mover in the walled garden restoration project together with Roger Weston, Peter Warry, Claire Le Pelley, Michael Eades and Mike de Carteret.  The Victorian Walled Garden is just a short walk across the courtyard from NTG's Folk & Costume Museum within Saumarez Park.  There's a lot going on and all of it quite unusual!  A visit to Saumarez Park makes for a good day out with something for all the family, including refreshments aplenty at the park Cafe!